World Bamboo Workshop

Time
04 February 2019 - 08 February 2019

Location
Manipur, India

Contact

T.P.Subramony <subramony@inbar.int>

The 3rd World Bamboo Workshop 2019, co-hosted by the Government of Manipur, India, and the World Bamboo Organisation, was held on 4-8 February at City Convention Centre in Imphal District, Manipur State, India. INBAR was represented at the WBW by Mr TP Subramony, Director & Regional Coordinator for South Asia, and Mr Ralf Kuepper, Expert for Sustainable Development.

WBW is an annual event organized with the objective to spread the traditional use and application of bamboo while making efforts to bring in all the scientific, technical and traditional knowledge available around the world.

The Workshop began with the Chief Minister of Manipur, Mr N. Biren Singh, inaugurating it. It was attended by around 300 national and international delegates including renowned experts in the field of bamboo from around 34 countries. Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister appreciated the WBO for initiating a global event to bring the people together for promoting the use of bamboo for food, fuel, fibre, building materials and a renewable resource with many applications. The north-eastern region of India has only 28% of land under bamboo, while it has 66% of India’s bamboo production, he said. The Chief Minister in his speech said that the outcome of the technical session must be put on the ground in practical and should be a game-changer.

Along with the Chief Minister who was the Chief Guest, the inaugural function was attended by the state’s textiles, commerce and industry minister Mr Th. Biswajit Singh, and forests & environment minister Mr Th. Shyamkumar besides senior officials of the State, and Ms Susanne Lucas, Executive Director, and Mr Micheal Abadie, President of the World Bamboo Organisation.

Following the inaugural function, technical sessions on various topics were held during the 5-day event. The WBW-2019 in Manipur was the 3rd in the series after the first and second editions in Mexico and Peru respectively. The workshop was a five-day event with important features like lectures, interactive sessions, hands-on training and demonstrations, exhibitions, cultural shows and bamboo cooking competition among others.

Speaking at the closing session on 8 February, the Governor of Manipur State, Dr Najma Heptulla said that for the advanced economies of the world, bamboo provides a new alternative to the many uses of wood as a material while it may even be a novel item of nutritious food. Dr. Heptulla expressed hope that the deliberations and exchanges of information, knowledge, know-how, demonstration and uses of bamboo during the workshop would benefit the people.